In Iowa swimming and diving’s first dual meet in three weeks, the men won seven events to take their half of the meet, 156-144, while the women fell just short in a 157-143 loss.

Both the men’s and women’s sides were competing against ranked competition, with the Minnesota men coming in at No. 25 and the women at No. 22. Only Iowa’s men’s team was ranked coming into the meet at No. 23 in the TYR college rankings.

“With ranked Big Ten teams and the history that we have, we knew it was going to be hard fought, and we knew we were going to get their best,” head coach Marc Long said following the meet. “I think that’s what we all want. We have a lot of development still going on, a lot of young people, and this is a really good growing opportunity for all of us. I’m really, really proud of the men and the women.”

Numerous close races provided an opportunity for pressure situations that can help the Hawkeyes later in the season.

“Dual meets are great, because you’re not over analyzing. It’s kind of like a game. It’s race, step up, race again, and then we analyze afterwards,” Long said. “From that aspect, that’s an intangible that were going to just keep see growing more and more as we go throughout the season.”

RELATED: Swim/dive to face off against Minnesota Saturday

Freshman Millie Sansome set the tone early in the women’s competition, scoring a comeback win for Iowa by just over half a second in the 1000-free with a time of 10:03.70 against Abbey Kilgallon of Minnesota.

“I was just trying to build it throughout, because I know that we’ve stepped up the distances a bit since the last meet,” Sansome said. “So, I had a little bit more confidence going in. I kind of had an idea. Marc told me her times and I was like, ‘Okay, we’re going to be pretty close,’ but on the last 200, when I was breathing going down where I would turn, I was seeing all my teammates. The last 25 I just put my head down.

“It’s about doing it for something that’s bigger than you. Like, it’s about your team, and I was seeing all of them cheering me on. I was so hyped. I was like, ‘I’ve just got to finish before her now.’”

On the men’s side, the meet was highlighted by Iowa sweeping both the 50-free with Joe Myhre, Will Scott, and Steve Fiolic claiming the top three spots and the 100-free with Alex Tarasenko, Myhre, and Scott rounding out the top three.

“[The 50-free] really kept the momentum going it got everyone fired up, kept us hungry and helped us finish the meet. I think that was a key part to winning,” Myhre said.

The Hawkeyes claimed first place in both the men’s and women’s 400-free relays to end the meet in dramatic fashion.

“We were really pumped,” Myhre said. “It was a lot of fun. We just wanted to take it and run away with it and swim with confidence, swim big, and just get the lead and finish the meet.”

Before the final relay, the Hawkeye men were only up by three points.

Next up on the schedule for the women are the Michigan Wolverines in Iowa City on Nov. 1. The men will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, to take on the Wolverines and Indiana Hoosiers on Nov. 2.

\